The Fourth Calamity: Starting with Dungeon Slimes

Chapter 187 Ready to Launch

Most of the returning players have started to buy new equipment. Some players, however, have made a fortune without any investment. When they first went there, they couldn't even fly a mech, but now they're back and they can.

"So, bro, I'm really curious. I remember when you went there, you only brought a few cannons, right? How did you manage to meet the withdrawal requirements?"

At this moment, seeing a player waiting for his mech to be built, a player next to him asked curiously. This player was in a similar situation to him, as he didn't have the money to buy a mech.

However, I haven't earned much money yet, and I'm still far from meeting the withdrawal requirements. Meanwhile, the guy who came in with me has already started building his own mech.

This made him feel very unbalanced. They were fighting together, so why was the guy on the other side so much better?

Upon hearing this player's question, the player waiting for the mech to be completed glanced at him thoughtfully, probably guessing what he was thinking.

"Indeed, I used to use turrets, just like you. Needless to say, the monster-killing efficiency of these things is ridiculously low. And the most crucial thing is that the enemy will pay attention to the turrets falling from the sky, which makes it very difficult for us to kill a monster."

"Even if you don't die in a battle, you can't actually kill many monsters. At the current price of a monster, it's impossible to withdraw your winnings. But there are always exceptions."

At this point, the players nearby immediately became interested.

"So, buddy, you've found a way, the kind of way to easily kill monsters."

The latter shook his head at this.

Seeing the latter's performance, the player who had asked the question earlier was completely baffled. Clearly, the latter's answer was somewhat incomprehensible to him. If he hadn't found a way to farm monsters in large quantities, how did he earn so much more money than him?

"Dude, you're not saying this because you don't want to tell me your secret, are you?"

"Actually, buddy, you don't need to think that way. To be honest, this stage is just the beginner stage for us right now, and it can't be maintained for very long. In the future, we will definitely change our equipment or tinker with other things."

"Once we change all the equipment and stuff, we won't need to think about these things anymore. So your thing does have some advantages at the beginning, but those advantages won't last long."

Hearing what the player next to him said, the player waiting to build the mech shook his head.

He could also tell that this guy had clearly misunderstood. After all, it wasn't that he didn't want to teach him the method, but rather that his method wasn't suitable for him. However, he didn't expect that this guy would think that he was trying to hide something from him. The player was speechless about this.

"Dude, I think you're overthinking it. I would never be like that."

"You think I'm hiding something, but I can tell you clearly that I'm not like that. The reason I don't want to tell you is because it wouldn't make a difference."

"Actually, the answer is very simple, just two words: just pay up."

"The reason I didn't spend money to buy things when I entered the game was not because I didn't want to, but because my salary hadn't been paid yet. Heaven knows that the company delayed the salary payment by more than two hours this month. I only saw that my salary had been deposited after I finished processing the accounts, and then I spent money."

"Besides, you don't actually think that just because we have the same weapons and are both new players, I'll be twice as efficient as you, do you? The weapon's maximum potential determines your damage output. No matter how much you upgrade, it might only let you kill one or two more monsters at most. What's the point?"

"So that's roughly the situation. Right now, if you want this item in the early stages, the only way is to spend money."

"The reality is that there is no other way except to spend money."

Upon hearing what this player said, the player who had asked the question earlier was skeptical, and to be honest, he was still somewhat skeptical.

However, it was clear that the latter did not intend to continue arguing with him about this issue, because he knew very well that no matter what he said now, the other party would not believe him. But that didn't matter; whether the other party believed him or not was none of his concern.

"Alright, buddy, that's the truth. Whether you believe it or not is up to you. All I can say is that I've told you everything I know; I'm not hiding anything."

Hearing this, the player who had asked the question earlier wanted to ask again to see if this was really the case.

However, seeing that the player was now losing interest, he wisely chose to keep quiet.

After all, there are some things people don't want to talk about, and no matter how much you ask, it's useless. If they are willing to talk, you need to ask them, and they might discuss it with you. That's roughly the situation. So he didn't dwell on this issue anymore and instead focused his attention on other things.

Although this player's situation is not an isolated case.

Many players, seeing their companions who didn't have mechs before starting to build them, rushed over to inquire about the progress, resulting in a variety of plans. Some ventured into combat zones, looting numerous mech wreckage pieces to acquire enough for a new mech. However, this plan was highly dependent on luck, and many players who tried it died immediately upon arrival. Therefore, only a small percentage actually managed to retrieve their loot.

Of course, besides these, there are various other aspects. In short, these players are like the Eight Immortals crossing the sea, each displaying their unique abilities.

And so, after this battle ended, a large portion of the returning players were equipped with mechs, some through real money and others through resources they obtained on the battlefield.

In short, all sorts of methods were used. Although the players lost a lot of mechs in this battle, their overall strength actually improved because more players bought mechs.

Furthermore, through this battle, the players also saw many different things. For example, the combat power of players with mechs and those without mechs is completely different.

Mechs themselves provide a significant boost to strength, and in addition, there are other crucial enhancements.

For example, the enhancements in safety and subsequent operational endurance allowed them to kill many times more enemies on the battlefield compared to those using artillery emplacements.

The reason this version of the turret is actually effective is because players initially focused on maximizing its attack power when modifying it, and it has undergone several generations of evolution. Otherwise, against this type of enemy, the effect of this turret would be negligible. It's only because of these improvements that the current shells are barely usable, but their overall usefulness is naturally minimal.

They're barely qualified to participate in combat, that's all. And most importantly, turrets are basically obsolete in this generation, so amateur welders naturally can't continue making them. First, making these things would compete with mechs, leading to a decline in their own sales.

Secondly, there's not much point in continuing this research; further research would mainly involve modifying the materials used in artillery shells. Modifying this further would increase costs.

They had previously calculated that once the cost reached a certain critical point, further increases would result in exponential growth. However, if the increased cost led to an excessively high unit price, consumers might as well buy a mech instead. Therefore, continuing to research turrets at this point would essentially be a thankless and arduous endeavor.

I'd rather focus all my energy and time on researching mech parts. That way, I'll have a steady stream of income. At the same time, I can continue researching mech production factories, because the NPC mentioned that if there are more advanced or efficient mech production factories, we can acquire them.

Compared to these major sources of income, the income from those turrets is negligible.

Therefore, there is absolutely no need to spend too much energy and time on this.

For Jiang Chen, this battle was undoubtedly a success, at least in his eyes; the players had achieved a positive victory this time.

After all, the two sides are currently in a state of constant conflict. Under such circumstances, as the saying goes, all's fair in war. As long as they can find a way to defeat the other side, that's all that matters. As for what method to use or how the method will work, that's not what Jiang Chen is considering.

"Overall, the mech strategy is feasible. First of all, once the slimes' original forms are upgraded to the maximum level, their stats will not be worse than the opponent's. In a 1v1 situation, the players already have an advantage. With the addition of mechs, it is not impossible to achieve 1v2, 1v3, or even higher."

"Based on my understanding of this world, the current combat squads of the Dark Elves and Succubi are actually just the standard combat force of this world. Some races are not as strong, or even do not reach this level of combat power. Overall, they are now barely capable of fighting other races, at least to the point of being able to protect themselves."

Thinking of this, Jiang Chen felt a little gratified. After going through so much, he had finally developed to this point. Only he knew the hardships he had endured.

From the initial cautious approach, to the gradual improvement in development, more choices were made, and now, it is basically possible to have complete control over this area and drive away invading enemies.

He felt like he was walking on thin ice as he made his way forward, but thankfully everything went relatively smoothly. At least the dungeon did provide him with a lot of protection. Without the dungeon, Jiang Chen didn't know when he might have died outside.

"However, I can't stay locked in the basement forever. I will definitely have to go outside in the future. For me, the outside world is the world I yearn for. Compared to this dark and gloomy underground city, the outside world is undoubtedly much better. But going outside will also mean facing all sorts of problems, such as how to deal with these enemies, or other things that need to be considered."

"When a weak race like slimes appears in the outside world, they will definitely be attacked, because for many people, this race is synonymous with weakness. Under such circumstances, you establish your own kingdom and have your own army. Many people are inherently unwilling to accept this, and if they don't accept it, they will naturally do some irrational things."

Jiang Chen was certain that he would encounter similar situations after going out, because he understood a principle: what was once seen as weak, bullied, and useless by others, suddenly becomes your equal. This sense of disparity can drive people to do many crazy things.

If I were to appear in the outside world, this would probably be the situation.

Some people might simply dislike their own race, believing it's unworthy to be on equal footing with them, and thus seek to harm them. Others might believe their race possesses unique characteristics and want to capture and study them. In short, there are all sorts of people, and I'll definitely have to face them eventually, so I must be extremely well-prepared in every aspect. Fortunately, everything is progressing according to my plan.

"So the most important thing I need to do next is to find a way to get the players to take over the dungeon as soon as possible, so that we can start developing in the outside world."

"If we could complete the next stage of evolution, that would be perfect, but unfortunately, that's basically impossible."

"Because from what I understand so far, the situation is somewhat serious."

"The gist of the situation is that we simply don't have the key materials we need, and we also need to go deeper into the dungeons to collect the higher-level materials. Given our current situation, going deeper into the dungeons is definitely not realistic."

"For now, let's leave it at that. Who knows when the next evolution will be? Once the players have developed and everything else is in place, maybe we can go to other races and steal their cores."

"As long as we can obtain the key core, we can also plunder other materials from other races, because they must have also collected some high-level materials, which are just enough for my use. In general, the most important thing now is to occupy this place and then fight our way out. Only in this way can we gather the resources for the next stage of evolution."

According to Jiang Chen's estimate, the number of players may reach 5000 or even more in the next stage.

All of these players are combatants, and I can participate in some large-scale battles. Moreover, the level cap will be higher in the next stage, and their individual strength is already incredibly powerful. With the addition of mechs, my side's strength will be greatly enhanced.

In this situation, unless facing a human army of hundreds of thousands, virtually no race could stand against them.